privilege,......W2B is good at fighting the last war. He rode gold down 43 % from it's high. He is intransigent and refuses to accept facts that differ from his ideology. So, his mind is made up and he doesn't want to be confused with reality. He is probably good at riding a bike and may end up as a hood ornament on a car. But, he is entertaining, but, I wouldn't want to go on a cruise with him ..........Kid

flyer,........An 8% decline in revenues can't be rationalized by "headwinds" and "strong dollar"...From the media: The retirement of Geraud Darnis comes after sales for the company's Otis unit plunged 8% in the second quarter, and the company lowered its overall forecast for the year.
Manufacturing giant United Technologies said Monday that one of its top executives is retiring after the company posted a poor second quarter and lowered its outlook for the full year.
Geraud Darnis, CEO of the UTC Building & Industrial Systems division, will retire in January after 32 years with the company. UTC did not immediately name a successor.
"Throughout his 32-year tenure with UTC, Geraud has made countless contributions to our company's success, playing a key role in securing our position as the world's leading provider of high-technology building systems and services," UTC CEO Gregory Hayes said in a statement. "Geraud has built an exceptionally strong leadership team across the commercial businesses and his leadership has resulted in a portfolio that is more focused and better positioned for future growth."
His retirement comes after sales for the company's Otis unit, part of the UTC Building & Systems division, plunged 8% in the second quarter to $3.1 billion.
The company said its 2015 operating profit for Otis would be $300 million to $350 million less than in 2014. Otis has taken a hit from the economic slowdown in China, where the plunging stock market has undercut confidence.
Darnis, who was assigned to his post in September 2013, also previously served as president of the UTC Climate, Controls & Security division. He joined the company in the Otis division in 1983.
Darnis will help Hayes with the transition to a new leader for the UTC Building & Industrial Systems unit,
The division has $29 billion in annual sales, 121,000 employees, 74 factories and 49 R&D centers.
The move came after UTC Corp.'s net sales fell 5% to $16.3 billion for the second quarter, and net income fell 8% to $1.64 billion. Hayes warned on a conference call earlier this month that "we're going to take a hard look at restructuring.
"To say I’m disappointed would be a significant understatement. I’m tired of delivering bad news," Hayes said at the time. "We don’t want to over promise and under deliver."

Earlier this week, we took a brief look at Lockheed Martin's (NYSE:LMT) transformative deal to acquire Sikorsky helicopters from aerospace peer United Technologies (NYSE:UTX) and how this affected earnings at Lockheed Martin... and at United Technologies as well.
A deal of this size, though -- $9 billion -- deserves a bit more than just a fly-by mention in passing in an earnings write-up. Or even in two earnings write-ups. So today, we're going to take an even closer look at the deal, its valuation, and what it means for Sikorsky's new owner, Lockheed Martin.
Without further ado...
The deal
On July 20, one day before Lockheed Martin was due to report earnings (the company moved them up a day, for obvious reasons), Lockheed Martin and United Technologies jointly announced plans for the former to buy the latter's Sikorsky Aircraft business. Assuming regulators approve the deal, it is expected to close somewhere between late Q4 2015 and early Q1 2016.
CEOs of both companies lauded the deal. UTC CEO Gregory Hayes pronounced himself "pleased" -- not surprising, given the $9 billion cash payment his company is about to receive. Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson called Sikorsky "a natural fit for Lockheed Martin." What's more, she was especially pleased to point out that the companies have managed to structure the deal such that it creates a $1.9 billion tax benefit for Lockheed Martin, reducing the company's effective purchase price to just $7.1 billion.
The valuation
$7.1 billion. That's an important number for a couple of reasons. Notably, it will nearly double in size Lockheed's Mission Systems and Training business, into which Lockheed plans to merge Sikorsky. According to data from S&P Capital IQ, MS&T generated only $8.4 billion in sales last year, and was Lockheed's second least profitable business unit, with an operating profit margin of just 10.1%.
(Lockheed will probably be wanting to change that division's name, by the way, and maybe even restructure it entirely. With products ranging from combat systems to sensors to robots to entire littoral combat ships, it's getting to be a bit of a jumble.)
$7.1 billion is also less money than the $7.45 billion that Sikorsky brought in for UTC last year, resulting in a price-to-sales valuation on the purchase of just 0.95. That's significantly below the one-times sales ratio that forms the touchstone for valuing defense companies like Sikorsky. Simply put: Lockheed Martin got an excellent price on its new subsidiary, assuming it can teach Sikorsky to earn a decent profit.
The future for Lockheed Martin
Without a doubt, the company often referred to as America's biggest "pure play" defense contractor is about to become far and away the nation's premier defense company. Once the Sikorsky deal closes, Lockheed Martin will own the world's top-selling brand of fighter jet, the F-16...
In America and around the globe, no fighter jet is more popular than the F-16 Falcon. Image source: U.S. Air Force.
It will also own the top-selling combat helicopter, too -- the Sikorsky Black Hawk...
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk -- a special helicopter for America's Special Forces. Image source: U.S. Air Force.
Introducing Lockheed Martin's prototype Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. Coming soon to a dealer showroom near you... if they win the JLTV contract. Image source: Lockheed Martin.
The upshot for investors
So what does all of this mean for investors in the defense industry? In a nutshell, our lives just got a whole lot easier.
If you want to invest in the defense industry -- buy the whole shootin' match, all in one shot -- you no longer need to shotgun the market by purchasing defense-focused ETFs like iShares US Aerospace & Defense or SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF. Instead, you can buy a sample platter of essentially the whole military-industrial complex, all in one stock:
Lockheed Martin.

flyer,.......By deduction, from your posts, I've concluded that you're retired from Pratt, still love those +/- ten thousandths tolerances on engine parts, are drawing the MRD from the 401-K, live in Manchester, but, not a tree street....they're not very nice. We my have met at some time, I'm sure we would both remember the privilege. Just did my 5th GOOGL trade in 6 calendar days, I guess I'm not an "investor", but, the IRS likes my trading action. The CT DRS no longer shares in the proceeds.....Kid

flyer,......You may be having a senior moment. In Roman times, when a messenger brought back bad news from battle fronts, etc., they would punish the messenger by running a sword through him. My post is a synopsis of an article from today's Hartford Courant. using the exact wording from the Courant. Another cool thing that was done by the Romans was to line up the Roman soldiers after a losing battle and run a sword through every 10th soldier in the lineup, hence, the term decimation. This was to boost morale and incentivize the soldiers to do better....... I think Mr. Hayes is going to be doing some decimation.....Kid

Pratt sales were up 2 percent during the second quarter, which Hayes called "nothing to write home about."

Pratt's operating profit of $487 million fell 6 percent compared to a year ago, because of pension costs and more money-losing new engine sales. Engine manufacturers make their profits on engines in the years they're flying, with repairs and service contracts. That commercial aftermarket segment was up only 1

Mr. Hayes went to the pawn shop and sold some family jewels, Sikorsky, because he needed the money to improve the UTC financials since YOY revenues were down 5%. You can not share buyback your way to prosperity, gimmickry is not a substitute for genuine growth. I did do some bottom fishing today, buying UTX this morning. So far, when I brought my line in, the bait was gone and there was no fish.....Kid

Mr. Hayes better get ready to do some sailing, maybe he could crew on Louie's yacht. This could be a buying opportunity as initial reactions are generally excessive. I'm watching closely, the dead cat may bounce after the opening drop........Kid

ctb,........I pay what I'm obligated to pay, but, my incentive to make more money is diminishing. Hillary is an extortionist with contributions from foreign governments and she was paid $250,000. for a 30 minute commencement speech at UCONN, I no longer contribute to UCONN. Besides, her butt is 34 axe handles wide, Hope that helped.........Kid

Mr. Hayes needs to look for "other career opportunities" or "spend more time with his family". I love corporate clichés! W2B, how's that GLD thing working out for you? You've ridden it down 41% from it's high. Clearly, you are no Nostradamus......Kid

UTC is selling Sikorsky for $9B and then spending $8B for stock repurchase. Since UTC pays 2.4% dividend, UTC is getting 2.4% return on the $8.B buy of UTC stock. I like getting more than 2.4% on my investments. UTX is up 96 ¢ pre-market, yawn...........Kid

dog, ............If you have an asset, e.g., gold bars, real estate properties, stocks, etc., they show up on your financials as an asset. Your total assets minus your liabilities equal your net worth. If you sell an asset, like Sikorsky at market value, then your total assets decline. But, so do your liabilities by the same amount. So, your net worth remains the same. UTX will not be worth $8. B more. I hope that UTX will spike on the news, but am not irrationally exuberant.........Kid.

big guy,........ I like ZNH, China Southern Airlines, financials, trading at about the same P/E as UTX with better growth prospects. I don't like that ZNH is thinly traded, but, I will place it on my radar. JBLU is my airline holding and also my biggest trading gain for 2015 so far. I visited China Airlines in Taiwan many years ago, there was an active hijacking when I was at the airport. The hijacker was the pilot of the mainland China jet. Waiting for the GOOG liftoff at the open, looks like a $79. spike. It may be Stella-Artois tonight.........Kid

Yahoo! Finance Worldwide

Quotes are real-time for NASDAQ, NYSE, and NYSEAmex when available. See also delay times for other exchanges. Quotes and other information supplied by independent providers identified on the Yahoo! Finance partner page. Quotes are updated automatically, but will be turned off after 25 minutes of inactivity. Quotes are delayed at least 15 minutes. All information provided "as is" for informational purposes only, not intended for trading purposes or advice. Neither Yahoo! nor any of independent providers is liable for any informational errors, incompleteness, or delays, or for any actions taken in reliance on information contained herein. By accessing the Yahoo! site, you agree not to redistribute the information found therein.